No alliance with NCP-Sena in Goa, but remain friends: Chidambaram

New Delhi: Congress couldn't form an alliance with NCP-Shiv Sena in Goa for the upcoming polls, but they had put their best effort for the same, senior Congress leader P.Chidambaram told PTI. In an interview with the news agency on Sunday, he said that Congress will remain friends and will look for opportunities to work with them after elections, PTI reported.

When asked why Congress failed in making the alliance, he said that both sides put forward demands, and there was no meeting point. He was confident that Congress would win the state as a single majority and added that the contest there would be between them and BJP.

In Maharashtra, Shiv Sena was with BJP until the 2019 elections but allied with Congress after that. It formed the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in the state with Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)

When Chidambaram was told about the Congress MLAs leaving the party and joining BJP and asked the measures the party taken to avoid such incidents, he said that loyalty is a top priority for the party. Party only gave tickets to those who were recommended by Block. He added that candidates "spontaneously" did their pledge before a Temple, a Church and a Dargah. He is sure that such a pledge ensure the loyalty of their candidates.

Congress might agree with a post-poll alliance if other parties are okay with a Congress-led government, and the party would decide according to the circumstances then, Chidambaram said. He expressed that Congress-led government will do better than BJP's in the state, and he has received positive feedback "from the ground".

Goa polls are scheduled to be held on February 14. In the 2017 Goa Assembly polls, Congress had won 17 seats to become the single majority, but BJP worked strings, gathering some regional parties and independents to form the government.